Dan Ghenacia

Having earnt his stripes as the driving force behind the highly influential but now defunct Freak N Chic, Dan Ghenacia is back with a new label, Apollonia, alongside fellow French cohorts Shonky and Dyed Soundorom. As he prepares the label’s schedule for 2013, Dan talks us through his top tracks.

The first record I ever bought

I don’t remember the first I bought but my mum gave me my first records when I was about four years old. I could sit for hours in my bedroom listening to them. My parents said that my favourite song was ‘Belfast’ by Boney M but the record I remember best was The Head On The Door by the Cure.

The first time I remember hearing electronic music

Like a lot of people from my generation I think it was ‘Rockit’ by Herbie Hancock. I remember I was amazed by the video. I was ten years old watching the local music channel waiting for this video all night long.

My favourite ever record

Purple Rain by Prince. This is the album I’ve listened to the most and I’ve found a lot of inspiration from the mix of white soul with black music. In fact, in the Purple Rain movie Prince’s girlfriend is called Apollonia and she offers him his infamous white guitar. Hence why Shonky, Dyed Soundorom and I chose Apollonia as the name for our label and back-to-back DJ moniker.

The guaranteed floor filler

Chris Carrier – ‘Street Talk’. I loved playing it at DC10 this summer. It really works on the crowd!